First Season of Emmy-Winning "Smash" Arrives on DVD, With Bonus Features, Jan. 8

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08 Jan 2013

Megan Hilty and Katharine McPhee

Photo by Will Hart/NBC

The first season of the Emmy Award-winning musical drama series "Smash" — created by Broadway's Theresa Rebeck, with songs by Tony Award winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman — is released on DVD Jan. 8, in anticipation of the Feb. 5 launch of Season Two on NBC.

The series is the brainchild of Steven Spielberg, who wanted to see a backstage tale about the making of a Broadway musical. The hour-long showbiz soap — spiced with freshly arranged pop songs and original theatrical musical numbers related to the musical-in-the-making —"Smash" has a serious following among people who are passionate about musicals.

On Dec. 5, 2012, composer and co-lyricist Shaiman and co-lyricist Wittman learned that the show's signature number, "Let Me Be Your Star," had been nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Song Written For Visual Media. The number is woven throughout the 15-episode first season.

The four-disc "Smash" Season One DVD package also includes each episode on UltraViolet, "the revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows in the cloud to instantly stream and download to tablets, smartphones, computers and TVs…anytime, anywhere on the platform of their choice."

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Here's how Universal Home Entertainment bills the series: "Talented newcomer Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) is up for the role of a lifetime in a new Broadway musical based on the iconic Marilyn Monroe. The only thing standing in her way is Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty), a seasoned theatre veteran who is determined to land the part herself and will stop at nothing to realize her own dreams of fame."

"Smash" Season One also stars Tony Award winner Christian Borle (Peter and the Starcatcher) as the composer, Emmy Award winner Debra Messing ("Will & Grace") as the lyricist-librettist, Oscar winner Anjelica Huston ("Prizzi's Honor") as the producer and Jack Davenport ("Coupling," "Pirates of the Carribbean") as the director.

The Season One guest stars include Tony winner Bernadette Peters as Ivy's stage-star mom, Uma Thurman as a movie star looking to break into musicals and pop star Nick Jonas as a pop star who invests money in the new show about Marilyn Monroe. The series is packed with theatre veterans (Michael Cristofer, Brian d'Arcy James, Will Chase, among others). Season Two will introduce many new characters (including a star played by Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, and young show folk played by rising stars Jeremy Jordan and Andy Mientus).

The "Smash" DVD bonus features include deleted and extended scenes, gag reel and featurettes — "A Dream Come True" ("an in-depth look at the amazing cast") and "Song & Dance" (behind the scenes with composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman to see how the original music is created and how choreographer Bergasse brought it to life).

As previously reported, creator and Season One showrunner Theresa Rebeck was replaced by new showrunner Joshua Safran ("Gossip Girl"), who is shaping the storytelling of Season Two.